Sessa is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 18 April 2021 the municipalities of Croglio, Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Sessa merged to form Tresa.
History
Sessa is first mentioned in 1335 as Sexa.
In the High Middle Ages, members of the Langobard military family, the de Sessa formed a noble corporation with lands centered in the current municipality. The noble corporation remained in power around the village until the reign of the Swiss Confederation. The Capitani of (de) Sessa were Imperial vassals. In 1240, Emperor Frederick II took control of Sessa Castle, which was probably in the village. Due to the tradition of imperial immediacy in the Malcantone region (including Sessa, Astano, and Monteggio), the Bishop of Como lacked the landlord rights he held in neighboring villages. The population of these villages also tried to separate themselves spiritually from the bishop. By the 16th century, and perhaps even before then, they founded an independent parish which also included Monteggio, Castelrotto, and Cremenaga. Cremenaga, which was in Italian territory, only separated from the parish in 1842. The parish church of San Martino was first mentioned in 1288, and its present form dates back to 1630. In addition to San Martino, the city has several other chapels and churches, including S. Orsola (established 1601). At the time of the Swiss Confederation rule, the capitano reggente of Lugano was the bailiff in Sessa. He heard cases in the court building known as the casa dei Landvogti.
Agriculture and emigration marked the traditional economy. In the 19th century local companies exploited the peat layer at Prati Vergani and gold mines at Monte Sceree (between Sessa and Astano). The mining activity was resumed in the 20th century by the company Mines de Costano SA, active from 1935 until the early 1950s.
(de) Sessa family
The (de) Sessa's were originally from the Langobard nobility. They were vassals of the House of Hohenstaufen when they lived in Sessa Castle, which controlled the passage over the Tresa river. This ended in 1240 when Emperor Frederick II took over the castle. The numerous representatives of the family formed a noble corporation, which along with the Vicin family retained power until the reign of the Confederates. Around the 13th century, a (de) Sessa was mentioned who bore the Capitanei title in Locarno. As members of the Capitanei of Locarno in the 14th century, they possessed patronage rights to the chapel of S. Orsola in the church of S. Martino in Sessa. The family spread throughout Lombardy, where presumably the Sala (Varese) branch split off. This line is first mentioned in the 1277 list of the Milanese aristocracy. By the beginning of 16th century the direct line of the family had died out. Anyway, other minor lines have survived and the family, still flourishing, is present on the Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà Italiana and on the Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana with the title of Noble.
Geography
Sessa had an area, , of . Of this area, or 27.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 65.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 1.0% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 57.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 8.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.4% is used for growing crops, while 3.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 6.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The former municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the mid-Malcantone. It consists of the village core of Sessa and the surrounding settlements of Beredino, Bonzaglio, Costa, Lanera and Suino.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a castle with two towers argent ensigned with a swan of the same.
Demographics
Sessa had a population (as of 2019) of 685. , 18.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 10.4%.
Most of the population () speaks Italian (74.7%), with German being second most common (17.7%) and French being third (2.8%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 107 speak German, 17 people speak French, 451 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (28 people) speak another language.